Theoretically Prepared, Structurally Unsupported: Prospective Teachers’ Conceptions of Inquiry-Based Citizenship Education in Pakistan
Abstract
National curricula in Pakistan emphasise the need to promote active, inquiry-based citizenship education; however, classrooms are still spaces of memorisation, teacher-centred, and rote-bound teaching. Prospective teachers hold a role in any change process of this kind of practice; however, there is limited documentation on Pakistan’s elementary level about prospective teachers’ conceptions of the inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach for citizenship education. More specifically, this study investigated the prospective teachers’ conceptions of IBL and citizenship education, their conceptions of citizenship competencies IBL entailed, and the strategies and challenges they foresaw in the implementation process. Semi-structured interviews were used for data generation, which were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Reflexive TA). Four themes emerged: conceptual (mis)alignment without institutional support; IBL as preparation for citizenship skills; IBL classroom as a democratic rehearsal space; and structural barriers as systemic limitations. Findings indicate that conceptions of IBL and citizenship education are significant and theoretically coherent, and are a product of their individual construction and lack an explicit structure. We argue that bridging the divide between policy and the classroom is not about producing more informed teachers, but rather that the overall teacher preparation system, resource provision, and institutional support need to be reconfigured.
Keywords: IBL, Citizenship Education, Prospective Teachers, Pre-Service Teacher Education, Pakistan, Reflexive Thematic Analysis, Democratic Pedagogy.
